January 29 movie: Zatoichi's Flashing Sword. This was the first Zatoichi movie I ever saw! A friend of my parents told me about the series, he had watched it when he was stationed in Japan in the 60s. He lent us this one on DVD and my dad and I watched it together. Guess what, Zatoichi gets involved in a war between rival gangs. They're fighting about the rights to transport people across a ford. There's a great fight scene in which Zatoichi puts out all the candles, so they'll all be in the dark, then ends up with the top half of a candle (still lit) sitting on the blade of his sword. Makes for some nice lighting effects, as he turns and points the sword with the candle on it at the various baddies.
The violence level increases again -- not the body count this time but the amount of blood, which used to be none but is now substantial. And the end is more grim than a lot of the others I've seen. Also I think this may be the first Zatoichi movie in which no woman falls for him. The daughter of one of the warlords does treat him very well, but there's no indication of any feeling beyond simple generosity.
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